Dr Kunal Ghosh

Profile

I am an Aerosol Research Scientist in the Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science at the University of Leeds, working on the UKRI-funded project Towards Maximum Feasible Reduction in Aerosol Forcing Uncertainty (Aerosol-MFR). My research focuses on understanding and quantifying structural errors in climate models, particularly the UK Earth System Model (UKESM), with an emphasis on aerosol–cloud interactions and their role in radiative forcing.

I completed my PhD in Environmental Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, where I investigated the role of ions in aerosol microphysical processes using both modelling and experimental approaches. Following this, I worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher and Team Leader at the University of Oulu, Finland, in an ERC-funded project on surfactant effects of organic aerosols in cloud formation and climate change.

My wider expertise includes aerosol microphysics, charged particle processes, cloud–aerosol interactions, atmospheric chemistry, and the use of advanced statistical emulators and high-performance computing to analyse large climate model ensembles.

Responsibilities

• Aerosol Research Scientist: Aerosol-MFR project
• Research on aerosol-cloud interactions and structural error in climate models
• Collaboration and engagement within the Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science

Research interests

My research focuses on understanding aerosol–cloud interactions and their impact on climate, with a particular interest in how structural errors in global climate models influence estimates of radiative forcing. I work with the UK Earth System Model (UKESM) to improve the representation of aerosols and reduce uncertainties in climate projections.

I am also interested in aerosol microphysics, charged aerosols, surfactants in cloud droplets, and the application of advanced statistical emulation and machine learning techniques to large climate model ensembles. My work combines modelling, high-performance computing, and data analysis to bridge the gap between process understanding and global climate prediction.

Qualifications

• PhD Environmental Engineering – IIT Kanpur (2021)
• BTech Agricultural Engineering – UBKV, India (2012)
• Seal of Excellence – Marie Skłodowska-Curie PF (2024)
• Seal of Excellence – Marie Skłodowska-Curie PF (2021)
• All India Rank 4 – GATE Agricultural Engineering (2012)

Professional memberships

• Member – European Geosciences Union (EGU)
• Member – JASMIN supercomputing community (UK)
• Member – ECHAM-HAMMOZ modelling community
• Member – CSC supercomputing group LUMI, Finland
• Member – PartMC modelling community, University of Illinois

Research groups and institutes

• Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science